Clothes-holding device for suit-cases.



No. 689,094. Patented-Dec. I7, I90l. S. KIEFER.

CLOTHES HOLDING DEVICE FOR SUIT BASES.

(Application filed Sept. 9, 1901.)

' (No Model.)

tlmren dramas PATENT price.

SOLOMON KIEFER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHES-HOLDING DEVICE FOR SUiT -CASES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,094, dated December1901' Application filed September 9, 1901. Serial No. 74,804. (Nomodel.)

T0 00% whom it may concern.-

Be itknown' that I, SoLoMoN KIEFER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Holding Devicesfor Suit-Cases and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices capable of application to and use inconnection with the rectangular pasteboard or cardboard boxes or casescommonly used by tailors for delivering suits of clothes and the like totheir customers; and my improvements are in the natureof devicesdesigned to hold or retain the clothes in a neatly-folded andsmoothlypressed condition within the box and insure the delivery of thesame in wearable order and condition and free from wrinkles, creases,folds, and the like, such as are apt to result from a free sliding aboutof the goods therein When the box is inverted or turned on either end oredge. I

To this end my invention consists of a clothes holder or retainer forapplication to and in combination with a suit-box or the like, the samein its preferred form comprising a pair of cooperating holding andformretaining devices which may be secured to the opposite end walls ofthe box, one of these devices engaging the neck and shoulder portions ofa coat and the other engaging and holding down the folded tail portionsof the coat, substantially as hereinafter described, it being understoodthat either device is within the purview of my invention capable of useadvantageously without the other, but that both are preferably usedcooperatively to effect a perfectretention of the garment in a fixedposition relatively to its containing-case irrespective of the movementsto which the latter may be subjected in the handlin g thereof.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the body member of a suit box or casehaving my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionthrough the lower end of the closed box and fully illustrating the application and operation of the device which holds the lower end of thegarment; and Fig.

tailors and clothing-dealers for the delivery of suits of clothes.

O designates the curved bar of an ordinary clotheshanger, which incommon use engages under the neck and shoulder portions of a coat. Thisbar 0 is provided centrally thereof with a wire or other stem,(designated as an entirety by D,) this stem in the form shown being bentintermediate its length at right angles, its upwardly-bent portion beingof less height than the end wall of the case and terminating in anoverhanging hook (I, by which it is adapted to slip down over the upperedge of one of the end walls of the box, clamping the same, whereby thecurved bar of the hanger is supported or hung from the upper edge of thewall of the box, substantially as shown in Fig. 3, being entirely or atleast partly suspended above the bottom of the floor of the box. whenthe garment, as

a coat, is in place within the box and prop-v erly engaged by thehanger, it will be evident that the neck and shoulder portions of thecoat will be supported slightly above the bottom of the box in such amanner as to prevent aline or crease being formed at the upper end ofthe garment between the front and rear portions thereof. The rounded andsmoothly-pressed effect of the neck, shoulder, and breastportions of thegarment is thus preserved, and the presence of folds, wrinkles, orcreases along the lines indicated is obviated.

The device for holding in place the lower or tail portion of the garmentcomprises, essentially, a rod E,disposedtransversely of the box and inpoint of length substantially coextensive with the full width thereofand being so mounted as to be elastically pressed toward the bottomthereof. My preferred means for supporting the rod E consists of a pairof elastic wire arms, (designated as an entirety by F,) each arm beingformed, preferably, of a single length of steel wire, one end of whichis bent and hooked through an aperture near the upper edge of the lowerend wall of the box, as shown at f, the wire extending down outside thewall, as shownat f, thence passing through an aperture in the bottom ofthe wall at f then being given one or more turns to form a spring-coil fand thence passing in the form of a straight arm f and entering the endof the rod or bar E. It will be seen that this manner ofmounting the rodE permits the same to be easily raised to a height sufficient to passthelower end of the garment (indicated by G) thereunder, whereupon theelasticity of the rod-holding arms F causes the rod to lie upon andacross the lower end of the garment and retain the same snugly inengagement with the bottom of the box in exactly the. form in which ithas previously been folded.

From the foregoing it wilhbe seen that my invention provides aclothes-holding device capable of securing the garment in fixed positiontherein at both ends thereof and characterized by extreme simplicity ofconstruction and manipulation, and consequently inexpensive tomanufacture. In view of the fact that these devices are intended to begiven away as an element of the case itself it is of course a primerequisite that they be produced at a minimum of expense, and in mypresent invention I believe that this desideratum has been secured.

By reason of the fact that one of the holders (the hanger) is readilyand instantly applicable to and removable from the box it will be seenthat the garment may be disposed in place in the box and the holdingdevices engaged therewith very easily and quickly, while in removing thegarment the same can conveniently be taken from the box with the hangerstill in engagement with the garment, the latter being simply drawnforward out of engagement with the rod E and subsequently hung up on itshanger G if notdesired forimmediate use.

As above stated, while in carrying out my invention I prefer to use thetwo devices in combination with each other and the box,since r theyproduce a desirable cooperative effect and secure the best results inthe way of retaining the garment perfectly in place and avoiding thepossibility of its being mussed and disordered within the case intransit, nevertheless it is evident that either may be advantageouslyused separately in combination with the box to secure in a less perfectdegree the result stated.

My invention is not limited to the precise formof the elements shown,theessential characteristic of the hanger being that it shall be suspendedover the upper margin of the end wall of the box in such a manner as tobe readily slipped on and off the same, while the essentialcharacteristic of the lower or rear holding device resides in atransverse rod or bar which lies over the garment and is normally springpressed thereupon. Within these essential distinguishing characteristicsit is evident that the structural details of the invention may be variedto suit the tastes of individual makers or users.

I claim- 1. In combination with a suit box or case, a garment-holdingdevice for application thereto, the same comprising a coat-hanger havinga single centrally-disposed bent stem, the upwardlyturned portion ofwhich is of less height than the end wall of the case and is providedwith an overhanging hook whereby the hanger may be suspended within thecase from the end wall of the latter, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a suit box or case, a garment-holdin g device forapplication thereto, the same comprising a rod or bar longitudinallysubstantially coextensive with the width of the case and adapted tooverlie the lower end portion of agarment Within the box, said rod orbar being secured within the box by elastic means which normally tend topress it down upon the bottom thereof,substantially as described.

3. In combination with a suit box or case, a garment-holding devicetherefor, the same comprising a rod or bar longitudinally substantiallycoextensive with the width of the case, and adapted to overlie the lowerend portion of a garment within the latter, and a pair of elastic armsto which-said rod or bar is secured at its ends, said elastic arms beingsecured at their other ends in the adjacent end wall of the case, andnormally acting to press the rod or bar down upon the bottom of thecase, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a box or case adapted to contain garments andthe like, of a device for retaining the form and shape of the garmenttherein, said device comprising a coat -hanger for engaging the neck andshoulder portions of a coat, the same having a bent hook adapted toengage over the upper margin of one end wall of the case and therebysuspend the hanger therefrom, and

a device for holding in place the lower or tail in the opposite end wallof the case, substantially as described.

SOLOMON KIEFER. Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND,

SAMUEL B. I-IOLZHEIMER.

